She's here! And what a gem!

  

      We've had a busy 4th of July weekend here - all good!  Little Sally arrived via transport from Georgia on Saturday in New Haven - at a rest stop along the city's shore containing about 275 thousand food trucks with half the population of the city in attendance - with 25 parking spots.  I'm kidding, but not really.    

   Our new little girl was exhausted, and so very happy to get out of transport and into someone's lap.  I will say the transport used was wonderful - they really give a damn about the dogs and treat them very well while in the very stressful environment they are in. My son came with me to pick up, and a shout out to him for being very kind despite his mother's embarrassing tears of happiness. 

 These are the girls of Grateful Doggies Freedom Transport.  They bring shelter dogs from up and down the East Coast to their forever homes.   They left Georgia on Friday morning - driving through the night, picking up pups along the way, delivering them  to their adopters at various stops along their route.. it's exhausting work and they do it anyway.  Amazing folks.

 Right after this picture was taken she peed about 2 gallons directly on that shirt.  She had been holding it in for a loooong time, apparently.    Did I mention  how much I love my son?  

 Sally (although we're still not set on the name) is doing very well, we adore her already. She's super friendly, smart as a whip, loves dogs and people. 

Frasier and Bailey have made it clear she's not allowed on the bed.

They aren't either... clearly. 

I need this shirt.... 

 We spent the 4th at the cottage -  Stella has proven to be a great family gathering place, it's a beautiful thing, just what I hoped for...   

      That's my dad in the photo below - M picked him up at the nursing home and we had a nice visit.  There are times when we feel  not-so-great about him living in a "home", but  at the end of the day, it is without a doubt the right place for him to be.  At the time of his last heart attack, he wasn't taking care of himself, hadn't cooked for himself in years, hadn't cleaned his little house in years, wasn't doing his laundry, wasn't taking his meds properly, and his driving was unsafe.   We had been maintaining his property for him for years, trying to give him as much independent living time as possible.   If you read here often, you know our relationship is a tough one.  Living here with us is just not an option - he's lucky we do what we do.  But.. I admire this in him - he has made a decent life for himself at the home, and that's where I feel good about the decision to place him there.   First of all, it's a good one - clean, updated, friendly knowledgeable staff and lots of activities for those who are still fairly active.  He has made friends and has a social circle. He is now the president of the residents association, and joins in the activities.   All is well that ends well.

 And because I gotta be me... how about that Christie fella closing down NJ beaches on the weekend of the biggest beach holiday of the year, beaches that hard working tax payers of the state pay for,  only to open one up JUST FOR HIS FAMILY for the 4th weekend.  His answer to questions by reporters as to how he could do that was basically this... "I'm the governor, I can do that. If you want to become governor you can do it too!"    Wow dude.. talk about saying FU to your people.   I'm pretty sure he doesn't plan to run for anything ever again.  

  If a picture says a thousand words....   

  

   Till soon, friends - thanks for stopping by.